Shipping box or case structure



@atente-ti filer. 3i), 1926.

' ERNEST STUART nANI'ELs, or WASHINGTON, nIsTpRI'o'r or cjoIiUiviisIA..l

f SHIPPING Box R CASE STRUCTURE.

Application sled November 12,1924. serial No. 49,543.;

To allie/'tomizmcayconcem: l* v Be it known that ERNEST STUART DAN- Iiins, a subject of the King Aof England, residing at lashington, Vin the District of Columbia, have invented certain new and useful improvements in Shipping B0X or Case Structures; and I do: hereby declare the following tobe a full, cleai,raiid exacty description of the invention, .such as will enable others skillecl'in the art to which it appertains to niake and use the saine.

This invention relates to shipping cases or crates, and inoie particularly to kpacking boxes or containers for foodstuffs and general merchandise, in respect toy which a strong, durable and non-collapsible* container of comparatively lightweight may be desired orrequired adequately ,to protect they goods orniercliandise from injury incident to careless or rough handling," during ship-` ment, `and is a further development of the ideay disclosed in my PatentV No. 1,472,635, granted October 30, 1923.

It has'heretofore been necessary, especially with light boxes, crates or containersA constructed from very thin planking or Y boards, to bind the ends or sides of the same withencircling" metal strips or stout wire, or to apply reinforcing brads thereto in order to hold the ends or sides of assembled sections together and prevent splintered pieces or portions of the wood from falling out of place, allowing the boxes to collapseshould the wood crack orsplitas a result of the .strain from rough handling.

The principal object vof the present invention vis i to piovide'an improved light weight box or packing case vstruc-ture in .whichv top, bottoni, ends o r side pieces or sections ofV very Ythin. material are reinforced in such manner as to ositivel hold the san/ie together and prevent them from colla sine or breakin@ a )art even thouoli4 such b b i pieces or .sections may crack or split from top to bottom or from end to end.

Simplicity of design, inexpense of manu-` facture,'strength and maximum durability in use, are further desiderata which have been borne in mind in the production of my improved packing box `or crate structure.

The invention will first be hereinafter more particularly described with reference to the accompanyingdrawings which are to be taken as a part of this specification and then pointed out in the claim at the end of the description.

In said drawings, Fig. ll is Ava `I'Jerspectiv'e View ofl a box constructed inzaccordance with Amy. invention, vtheA top being shown Iin elevated position above' the box;

Eig. :21 is ya perspective` vijew of a boxvv or crate top, botto1n,*end or side section Vor panel embodyinga feature of my invention;` .1. Y l Fig is a .fragmentary perspectiveview of the preferred form of reinforcing strip or spline` byiwhich v several pieces of thin material areconipositely held together; and Fig., fl is a perspective Aview of a modified forni of reinforcing strip.k

`Referring to the drawings in which like reference numerals are used to designate the correspending parts lthroughout the sev-f reral views, l'denotes 'a' box sectionwhich lmay be formed either from afsingle piece offthin board or in twozor inore pieces or 'strips of verythin A :plankiiig for boaidioff f the'same or diiierent'widtlis andof equal. length joinedtogether as illustrated in Fig.

2, yto provide composite sections or panels for the top, bottom, endor sides of the box, the dimensions Vof therespective sections or panels depending upon the diinensionsdei sired for the cenipleted box.

A complete/box` vsuch las shown in" Fig. l may thusl be constructed from* composite sections or. panels' formedindividually as abovenstated to form the `bottom 6, the ends 7, sides 8 and toprS), respectively. f L

The sawed otl'or transversev ends ofthe pieces arranged together toV forni these coinposite sections or. panels, are reinforcinglyff splined `and rigidlyheld togetherbyv a trans: versely corrugated'inetallic strip yorv shook 10,.'whicli` ispressed intothe alinededges ofr -the pieces ataopposite'ends ofthe sections; thnsflexibly binding the several pieces together as la unit-ary. structure, rendering `them inseparable and providing a retaining means preventing vthem from coming apart should any one lor all of the several pieces of the composite panels split from `end to end. spline is provided in the transverse end edgesv or margins ofthe `several pieces .of the composite sections or panels at substantially right angles to the grain of the wood in the respective pieces the-reof.V

If desired, the metallic strips or shookslO may be coated with a glue to assure Va tight union between the parts and prevent t-hc same from jarring loose after long continued Thus a metallic corrugated shook orY use orswelliiig of the Wood resulting from exposure to the weather. l A

Flattened extremities of said .shooks orV splines are preferably extended transversely beyond theedges or vmargins ofthe respective sections as shown in Fig. l, to provide fastening clampsl or iap portions a, by

which the assembled sections may be morey vsecurely bound together to foi'in a strong and rigid box structure. A Y

Referring to the modicatio-n shown in Fig. 4, metallic strips llofa slightly dif- 'ferentfornn may'if preferred be employed,

y said strips being VHat substantially through-v that described with reference to the splines or strips l0.

From the foregoing it will be readily understood that l have provided a. novel and valuable iniprovementin box or crate structure. By the means describechastrong du*- rable and non-collapsible box orcrate of very v. lightweight maybe 'constructed from thin `piecesof wood or, other fibrous material.

having'a'naturaltendencyV to crack or split under :slight strain,v the invention being especially applicable to lighter weight boxes constructed `with materialofone-fourtli inch thickness, although it isreadily `adaptable to containers constructed from thinner or '.'thicker material as well.V It is a well known fact that boxes and .cratesas heretofore con'- structed with very thin piecesof wood, are exceedingly fragile andy quickly break `apart or completelyv collapsein use, as the thin wood easily cracks or splits when any appreciable 'torque' orf' strains. are imposed thereon under shipment, so that they are renderedpractically yuseless-kin a short time4 and areWastefully thrown aside for fire 'wood'. A light but strong ibox constructed Il. of very-thin pieces of'lumber for` purposes ""Lof economy'invy costof VVproduction* and in vfreight charges, has .long been a commercial need, and it is believed the present invention I fully supplies that need, providing a box or container of the desired minimum weight, whichV will nevertheless meety all reasonable^ requirements of strength and durability so as to adequately protect goods and merchandise under shipment. `My rimproved composite'ly formed box sections or panels with no vel` reinforcement Ymeans Lagainst breakage or collapse upon splittingv or cracking of the wood, will .permitan appreciablefsaving in luniber,-which is an economic consideration of universalimporf tance. d The advantages and desirability of a packing box, case, crate or other container constructed with non-collapsible sections or panels, respectively forming the top, bottoni, ends and sides :of the saine will be obvious, and the vnovelty and value of the invention willbe fully appreciated, since the labor and expense heretofore necessary in binding lighter weight cases or crates with embracing metal bands or wire to hold the same together, may be Wholly eliminated. Needless destruction inopening or unpacking containers upon arrival at destination may also. be avoided by the use of boxes, crates and the like, constructed in are no binding bands or wireto be removed from place before the lidcan be raisednk Having thus described my invention, Vwhat I claim Vas new and desire to secure by Let-v ters Patent of the United States is united by a corrugated metallic strip pressed 1 into the transverse edges thereof at opposite ends ofthe section, said strips running at substantially right angles to the grain in accordance with iny inventiom'since, there each ofthe panelsand extending throughout Y the width of the section with their respective. ends projecting slightly beyond Y the margins of said section to lprovide fastening clamps or flaps therefor. c

In testimony whereof l aflix my signature.

ERNEST STUART DANiELs; 

